Nothing readies one for the life of an entrepreneur like being in the military. These men and women work tirelessly to serve our country and emerge highly-disciplined, achievement-oriented individuals.

It just so happens that those traits play very well in the world of business, too—especially when it comes to being your own boss.

So you won’t be surprised to learn that Marc Ducey enjoyed a long and impressive career as a U.S. Naval Officer before he and a friend embarked on an exciting entrepreneurial venture on eBay.

But how did they know what to sell? After doing a search on eBay for high-end golf clubs at discounted prices, Marc’s business partner noticed a void. And, he knew that Marc had been a hobby seller for years, so they put their heads together and GolfEtail was born.

Impressive story, right? It gets better. Marc recently sat down with us for a Q&A session. We asked him about his inventory strategy and, though this is sometimes a taboo subject with sellers, Marc was nice enough to share some of the secrets to his success in this area.

Marc, you’ve got a good thing going here. Can you tell us a little about how you select your inventory?

Yes, we consider ourselves opportunity buyers. We focus our buys on closeouts and distressed merchandise, which means that many times we can’t really plan for specific inventory. It’s a balancing act between ensuring we’re jumping on the right buying opportunities and aligning those opportunities with our identified product needs.

The golf business is pretty seasonal. How far out do you plan?

We start planning at least three months in advance of our peak season, which is March through August. When January rolls around, we get very aggressive with purchasing inventory. We buy more and deeper inventory during this time, trying to stay ahead of the demand curve, when we know prices will increase.

And, we take bigger inventory risks ahead of our busiest season. We don’t need to be as cautious because we have a lot of other inventory selling well that can balance out that one item that may not sell as well.

We also use the busy season to liquidate slow-moving merchandise. Other than that, we continue buying year-round, but not as aggressively.

How do you determine what will sell well?

It’s never a perfect science, but we do our homework and strive to be industry experts in the field of golf. We tried to branch out into other sporting goods, but it didn’t work out because aren’t as knowledgeable about baseball and soccer, for example, and don’t have as many relationships with suppliers in those industries.

Yes, never pass up a good buying opportunity. Even if you already have a lot of one particular product, if a good buying opportunity comes along, don’t pass it up! Also, when there are multiple units available, if possible, try to buy them all. That way you don’t run the risk of a competitor buying up the rest of the units and undercutting your price.

And, if you’re just starting out, consider finding another seller that you can partner with so that you have more purchasing power. Just make sure it’s someone you can trust.

Thanks for so much for sharing your inventory and sourcing secrets, Marc!

Feel free to share this article with your eBay colleagues via email, and on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

Great article on how this seller found a niche here on Ebay, and a great way to source products. Also, encouraging to others who want to know that there are unique niches here on Ebay that can be very profitable.

Yes, Shana, Have found a wonderful niche here on Ebay. It can certainly be done here for a lot of people. You just have to put your thinking cap on and explore possibilities for products. Would encourage others to really think out of the box, UH, the BIG BOX and find products that are unique, hard to find anywhere else and get them on Ebay. The place for the everything unique and in between as ya'll would say.

It's extremely hard for most pepole to maintain long term success on ebay. The main hurdle is the extreme fees ebay and paypal charges. The buying public is smarter than ever and most will compare prices not only on ebay but across several sites and platforms. Just my humble opinion but making paypal free for sellers would make all the difference in the world. At very least reduce the ebay fees. I'm glad these guys are able to maintain and the key word is maintain a profit level high enough to absorb those fees. Kudos to them. I'm really interested in seeing where they are in 5 to 10 years.

Nothing readies one for the life of an entrepreneur like being in the military. These men and women work tirelessly to serve our country and emerge highly-disciplined, achievement-oriented individuals.

It just so happens that those traits play very well in the world of business, too—especially when it comes to being your own boss.

So you won’t be surprised to learn that Marc Ducey enjoyed a long and impressive career as a U.S. Naval Officer before he and a friend embarked on an exciting entrepreneurial venture on eBay.

But how did they know what to sell? After doing a search on eBay for high-end golf clubs at discounted prices, Marc’s business partner noticed a void. And, he knew that Marc had been a hobby seller for years, so they put their heads together and GolfEtail was born.

Impressive story, right? It gets better. Marc recently sat down with us for a Q&A session. We asked him about his inventory strategy and, though this is sometimes a taboo subject with sellers, Marc was nice enough to share some of the secrets to his success in this area.

Marc, you’ve got a good thing going here. Can you tell us a little about how you select your inventory?

Yes, we consider ourselves opportunity buyers. We focus our buys on closeouts and distressed merchandise, which means that many times we can’t really plan for specific inventory. It’s a balancing act between ensuring we’re jumping on the right buying opportunities and aligning those opportunities with our identified product needs.

The golf business is pretty seasonal. How far out do you plan?

We start planning at least three months in advance of our peak season, which is March through August. When January rolls around, we get very aggressive with purchasing inventory. We buy more and deeper inventory during this time, trying to stay ahead of the demand curve, when we know prices will increase.

And, we take bigger inventory risks ahead of our busiest season. We don’t need to be as cautious because we have a lot of other inventory selling well that can balance out that one item that may not sell as well.

We also use the busy season to liquidate slow-moving merchandise. Other than that, we continue buying year-round, but not as aggressively.

How do you determine what will sell well?

It’s never a perfect science, but we do our homework and strive to be industry experts in the field of golf. We tried to branch out into other sporting goods, but it didn’t work out because aren’t as knowledgeable about baseball and soccer, for example, and don’t have as many relationships with suppliers in those industries.

Yes, never pass up a good buying opportunity. Even if you already have a lot of one particular product, if a good buying opportunity comes along, don’t pass it up! Also, when there are multiple units available, if possible, try to buy them all. That way you don’t run the risk of a competitor buying up the rest of the units and undercutting your price.

And, if you’re just starting out, consider finding another seller that you can partner with so that you have more purchasing power. Just make sure it’s someone you can trust.

Thanks for so much for sharing your inventory and sourcing secrets, Marc!

Feel free to share this article with your eBay colleagues via email, and on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

I find if you sell something that you are knowledable about or use yourself you will sell more consistantly and will kknow what product to look out for that compliment your store and inventory, also makes it easy and efficient when you can bundle some products together, You could put a best seller with a similar sluggish seller and still make money and get rid of enventory

shana_champion wrote:

Nothing readies one for the life of an entrepreneur like being in the military. These men and women work tirelessly to serve our country and emerge highly-disciplined, achievement-oriented individuals.

It just so happens that those traits play very well in the world of business, too—especially when it comes to being your own boss.

So you won’t be surprised to learn that Marc Ducey enjoyed a long and impressive career as a U.S. Naval Officer before he and a friend embarked on an exciting entrepreneurial venture on eBay.

But how did they know what to sell? After doing a search on eBay for high-end golf clubs at discounted prices, Marc’s business partner noticed a void. And, he knew that Marc had been a hobby seller for years, so they put their heads together and GolfEtail was born.

Impressive story, right? It gets better. Marc recently sat down with us for a Q&A session. We asked him about his inventory strategy and, though this is sometimes a taboo subject with sellers, Marc was nice enough to share some of the secrets to his success in this area.

Marc, you’ve got a good thing going here. Can you tell us a little about how you select your inventory?

Yes, we consider ourselves opportunity buyers. We focus our buys on closeouts and distressed merchandise, which means that many times we can’t really plan for specific inventory. It’s a balancing act between ensuring we’re jumping on the right buying opportunities and aligning those opportunities with our identified product needs.

The golf business is pretty seasonal. How far out do you plan?

We start planning at least three months in advance of our peak season, which is March through August. When January rolls around, we get very aggressive with purchasing inventory. We buy more and deeper inventory during this time, trying to stay ahead of the demand curve, when we know prices will increase.

And, we take bigger inventory risks ahead of our busiest season. We don’t need to be as cautious because we have a lot of other inventory selling well that can balance out that one item that may not sell as well.

We also use the busy season to liquidate slow-moving merchandise. Other than that, we continue buying year-round, but not as aggressively.

How do you determine what will sell well?

It’s never a perfect science, but we do our homework and strive to be industry experts in the field of golf. We tried to branch out into other sporting goods, but it didn’t work out because aren’t as knowledgeable about baseball and soccer, for example, and don’t have as many relationships with suppliers in those industries.

Yes, never pass up a good buying opportunity. Even if you already have a lot of one particular product, if a good buying opportunity comes along, don’t pass it up! Also, when there are multiple units available, if possible, try to buy them all. That way you don’t run the risk of a competitor buying up the rest of the units and undercutting your price.

And, if you’re just starting out, consider finding another seller that you can partner with so that you have more purchasing power. Just make sure it’s someone you can trust.

Thanks for so much for sharing your inventory and sourcing secrets, Marc!

Feel free to share this article with your eBay colleagues via email, and on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

.I find if you get a quality product at a wholesale price and give great service you will be successful with anything you sell.

There are too many sellers/dropshippers on eBay who keep no inventory but rather use data feeds from wholesalers, and listings on Amazon that are shipped via proxy to eBay customers. eBay used to seem to care about this, and I see a lot of negative feedback for these sellers (canceled orders, slow shipping, eBay arbitration), but nothing is ever done about it.

eBay removes listings arbitrarily from some sellers while allowing other sellers to list the same items for years without interference, and makes you write a removed listing from scratch just because of the previous inclusion of one word or phrase that could have been easily changed, causing a large loss of time and profits for a small business.

This article was not helpful at all. What Secrets were revealed? This is the blurb that led me to want to read this article: "Sourcing tips from someone who knows. Take it from selling expert Marc Ducey - he's got great advice on securing inventory, seasonality, and moving from hobby selling to multi-quantity listings.

There was not one tip on sourcing or securing inventory. Just never pass up a good buying opportunity. Waste of time.

well i have to agree when buying multiple items at a low price comes along. My main business is buying and selling American Silver Eagles, American Silver Buffalos, Morgan Silver Dollars and Silver Peace Dollars. I also deal in Large and Small U.S. Currency and Confederate Currency. As I was watching the price of silver yesterday, the prices were going up and down. It felt wonderful to buy 35 American Silver Eagles at a low price and watch the price go back up. Still an old saying, buy low, sell high.

Looking forward to talking coins and currency with my fellow ebayers at Ebay Open this year. Can't wait.